Table Salt

Table salt is comprised of small crystals of sodium chloride that are designed to be sprinkled, poured or pinched. They dissolve easily in water-based liquids due to their high surface area, which is important because one of their roles is to season soups and stews. Their other role is to be evenly sprinkled onto solid foods such as meat and vegetables and so their granularity is important. In highly humid climates, salt absorbs water from the air and this provides a mechanism for the crystals to bond together, becoming less easy to sprinkle from a saltcellar – the traditional receptacle for administering salt. This sticking together is called caking. For this reason, anti-caking agents are often added to table salt, such as sodium aluminosilicate, though rice granules are a traditional alternative.